Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan observed that “at almost any moment, any of us could be living with a disability, whether through our life circumstances or as we age. This is an issue that is personal to all of us, whether we realize it our not.”

Madigan the was the featured speaker at the Rush ADA 25 Symposium, held on Oct. 6 at Rush University Medical Center. The event celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act, which became law on July 26, 1990.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan observed that “at almost any moment, any of us could be living with a disability, whether through our life circumstances or as we age. This is an issue that is personal to all of us, whether we realize it our not.”

Madigan the was the featured speaker at the Rush ADA 25 Symposium, held on Oct. 6 at Rush University Medical Center. The event celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act, which became law on July 26, 1990.

A White Paper on Inclusion of Students with Disabilities in Nursing Educational Programs is available on the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) website. This paper also presents a new model of technical standards inclusive of all students with and without disabilities.

ABSTRACT: Nurses are challenged to fill the new and expanded roles for a health care system designed to improve the quality of health care. Despite the unique perspective and set of skills that students and health professionals with disabilities have to address many of these challenges, people with disabilities are often effectively excluded from the nursing profession. The purposes of this white paper are to 1) frame the issues that prevent applicants with disabilities from entering nursing education and the nursing profession and 2) propose the changes necessary to engage the potential of people with disabilities to enhance nursing leadership and innovation necessary to transform health care. Major barriers include the following: 1) outmoded admission standards that deter applicants with disabilities; 2) misconceptions about the capacity of students with disabilities to function effectively in the clinical components of nursing education; and, 3) lack of a comprehensive understanding of issues related to patient safety. This paper begins with an historical overview of the journey toward the acceptance of nurses with disabilities, including civil rights legislation, judicial rulings with reference to specific landmark cases, and the development of current technical and educational standards. The paper also presents a new model of technical standards inclusive of all students with and without disabilities, along with recommendations supportive of students with disabilities in admission, matriculation and graduation from nursing programs.

Washington PostIt was midnight in the emergency department of my hospital, and the chief resident was on a roll. Clad in green scrubs — two sizes too small for his body, they emphasized his muscular physique — he dashed between the ambulance bay and the critical care rooms.“Wen!” he barked at me, the medical intern. “Come over here to do the ‘rule-out-heart-attack’ in 3.” Two medical students grabbed their notepads and followed the chief resident and me into the room.The patient did not look as if he were having a heart attack. Dressed in a tailored suit, a young man with a neat ponytail sat in bed, texting on his BlackBerry. The nurse’s note said the 31-year- old was having chest pain. His vital signs and electrocardiogram were normal.“Good evening!” boomed the chief. We formed an imposing circle around the stretcher. “How are you doing?”

The Autoimmune Disabilities Guide for MomsAutoimmuneMom.com was born out of a frustration with a lack of online information about autoimmune conditions beyond the surface-level articles and blog posts, even on the top health websites. Believing there must be a way to develop content that dug into current research and examined deeper questions, the planning for the site began.

CARLSBAD, Calif., Dec. 11, 2012 — /PRNewswire/ — The three best professions for job seekers with disabilities are all in the field of health care: Pharmaceutical Sales, Pharmacy Technician and Physician’s Assistant, according to a new report by CareerCast.com.

Regardless of the fate of the Affordable Care Act, the United States will need 5.6 million new healthcare workers by 2020, according to a study.

The study, by researchers at Georgetown University’s Center on Education and Workforce, also found that 4.6 million of those new workers will need education beyond high school.

“In healthcare, there are really two labor markets — professional and support,” Anthony P. Carnevale, the report’s lead author and director of the Center on Education and Workforce, said in a news release. “Professional jobs demand postsecondary training and advanced degrees, while support jobs demand high school and some colleges.”

There is “minimal mobility” between the two, Carnevale said, “and the pay gap is enormous — the average professional worker makes 2.5 times as much as the average support worker.”

Among the study’s findings:

In 2008, 80% of entry-level RNs had at least an associate’s degree, up from 37% in 1980.

Rising degree requirements in nursing may be crowding out disadvantaged minorities, according to the authors: 51% of white nurses under age 40 have bachelor’s degrees, compared with 46% of Hispanic nurses and 44% of African-American nurses.

Healthcare has the largest number and proportion of foreign-born and foreign-trained workers of any industry in the U.S. Among healthcare workers, 22% are foreign-born, compared with 13% of all workers nationwide. Most foreign-born nurses come from the Philippines, India and China.

Only 20% of healthcare professional and technical occupations earn less than $38,000 a year, and almost 50% earn more than $60,000.

More than 70% of healthcare support workers make less than $30,000 per year, but that percentage is still better than most available alternatives for workers of that skill and education level, according to the report.

Healthcare successfully competes for science and engineering talent. Because the healthcare, science and technology fields tend to require similar skills, healthcare programs at the associate and bachelor’s level often are appealing alternatives for science and engineering students.

One difference between the fields: People in healthcare jobs tend to value forming social bonds, while people who gravitate to science, technology and engineering occupations place a greater emphasis on achievement and independence, the researchers found.

Washington, DC – In a first of its kind study, the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) determined that performing certain medical procedures or withholding life sustaining treatment in non-terminal situations without judicial review violates the civil rights of people with disabilities.

The initial catalyst for the report is the so-called Ashley Treatment which received worldwide attention 5 years ago.Ashley was a six-year-old child with developmental and physical disabilities whose growth was stopped through estrogen treatments and whose uterus and breast buds were removed. The intent of this treatment was to keep her permanently small and child-like.NDRN believes this practice is spreading worldwide.

“The thought of doctors and guardians, together, deciding to remove the body parts and stunt the growth of a child based on assumptions about their awareness and quality of life is shocking and disgusting,” said NDRN’s executive director, Curt Decker.

Further investigations by the nation’s federally mandated Protection and Advocacy agencies, which NDRN represents in Washington, DC, have uncovered other cases in which medical treatment and even basic food and water are being denied to individuals with disabilities during minor illnesses with the intent of letting the illness progress until death.

“In one case, the parents of a 13-year-old boy with a developmental disability refused to allow him access to antibiotics so that the cold he had would progress to pneumonia. They got their wish and the boy died,” said Decker.

“Every person is born with civil and human rights and an inherent dignity,” continued Decker. “The reality that this is happening in the United States is anathema to the core values that we as Americans say we hold. That it is happening to those unable to use their own voice is even worse. This report is meant to start the conversation about how society can and should make medical decisions that uphold the constitutional rights of all people with disabilities.”

The report, “Devaluing People with Disabilities: Medical Procedures that Violate Civil Rights,” puts individuals with disabilities at the center of discourse.It reviews the facts of Ashley X, as a case study and presents a continuum of similar experiences and treatment of individuals with disabilities within a context of medical decision making that devalues them as people and discriminates against them based on their disability.

The report explores the conflict of interest that medical decision making may present between a parent and their child.It describes the vital role that the legal and judicial systems have in ensuring that the civil and human rights of individuals with disabilities are protected regardless of their severity and in contrast to opinions regularly expressed in the medical and ethics community.

Finally, the report presents a series of recommendations for how the legal and medical systems at a local, state and national level, including protection and advocacy agencies, ethics committees, institutional review boards, and the courts can perform critical “watch-dog” functions to ensure that the human and civil rights of persons with disabilities are protected.

Washington, DC – In a first of its kind study, the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) determined that performing certain medical procedures or withholding life sustaining treatment in non-terminal situations without judicial review violates the civil rights of people with disabilities.